


Date Night

by riarkleminkthews (foreverlasting)



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: College AU, F/M, Mild Angst, Riarkle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:59:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreverlasting/pseuds/riarkleminkthews
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Farkle's late; Riley's worried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Date Night

Farkle Minkus didn’t know what to expect after coming home late from work one Friday night, but it certainly wasn't a police car outside of his apartment. The apartment he and Riley Matthews shared. The apartment that was unfortunately in a different borough than the engineering internship he had just returned from. 

 

Travelling in New York City was hard enough without adding the fact that it had begun to snow just as he left. Which added at least another hour on the travel time. Which would’ve been fine if he hadn’t already stayed an hour trying to finish up the last bits of a project he and his team were working on. And if his last text to his girlfriend before his phone went dead weren’t  **“be home in 30 mins <3”** .

 

He had expected trouble from Riley upon his arrival, but the sight of the flashing lights sent a thousand different scenarios flashing through his head, and none of them good. Before he knew it, his mind had come up with at least a dozen ways he would be identifying Riley’s body that night. Panic and adrenaline coursed through his body as he rushed across the street to the building.

 

Thankfully, he spotted her quite quickly. The back of her head barely peaked up behind a police car, but he would recognize her anywhere. He felt a staggering weight lift off his chest and slowed down to a walk as he approached.

 

As he got closer, he saw her more clearly: wearing a fancy dress that looked much too cold for this weather, standing in front of a police officer who looked about twice her size. He could only see her back, but could tell from the rapid gestures she was making that she was clearly riled up about something.

 

“...yes, I  _ know _ that you have to wait forty-eight hours before reporting someone missing, but I’m telling you, he’s not like this, he would be home by now, I know something happened to him!”

 

Hearing these words filled Farkle with confusion. Had Riley called the police after he had been missing for less that two hours? “Riley,” he called, trudging through the thin layer of snow that had begun to cover the sidewalk. “Riley, I’m right here.”

 

At the sound of his voice, Riley whipped her head around. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying, but they still lit up at the sight of him, just for a second, before turning into angry slits.

 

“Well, if that’ll be all ma’am, please don’t call 911 in the future unless it is a legitimate emergency,” the officer said exasperatedly, going back into his vehicle. Knowing Riley, Farkle expected that he was probably too worn out by her stubborn, insistent pestering to give her any stricter of a warning.

 

As he drove away, Riley continued to glare daggers at him. They stood there for a few seconds, unsure what to do. Farkle desperately wanted to embrace her, shield her from the cold, and bring her inside, but was afraid to touch her, knowing that if Riley was this mad at him, he should probably give her a little while to cool down. She turned away from him, folding her arms.

 

“Riley?” Farkle said, walking closer to her to grab her shoulder. She swatted his hand away and didn’t respond. At first, he was sure she was giving him the cold shoulder, but heard a half-choked back sob escape her. “Riley, look at me please,” he pleaded.

 

Reluctantly, she turned around, angrily brushing away tears. Again, he went in for a hug, but she pushed him away. “Asshole,” she choked out, voice cracking. This left Farkle shocked. He wasn’t offended, but he also wasn’t used to hearing the still pure and innocent Riley Matthews curse.

 

“I know, I know you were worried, but–”

 

“Worried?” Riley looks at him incredulously. “I was beyond worried. I was fucking terrified.” Again, unlike her. “Do you know how long I waited out here? Two hours! Two hours while the snow is falling and the wind is beating me from every side! Do you even remember what tonight is?”

 

Farkle’s immediate thought was,  _ Oh fuck, I’ve forgotten an anniversary, haven’t I?  _ But then soon remembered a much less important event of a more frequent occurrence. “Tonight’s Friday. Date night.”

 

Riley spread her arms wide, gesturing to her outfit, “I’m ready. You don’t seem to be.”

 

“I’m sorry,” was all Farkle could think to say. Eventually he continues, “Damn it, Riley, I’m really sorry. I worried you, I forgot date night, I kept you waiting and that’s not fair,” he could see in her eyes that neither of that really mattered to her. All that mattered was that he was there now, but he continued. “I would’ve called if I could, but my phone’s dead. Riley, please–”

 

“Your phone’s dead,” she said suddenly, the realization dawning on her.

 

“Yeah, it–”

 

“God, of course your phone’s dead,” she interrupted him again. “I’m such an idiot, I kept calling and calling I couldn’t think up a logical explanation for that.” She shook her head.

 

“You were worried that’s all,” Farkle said with great relief, as he felt her softening up again. He stepped forward to her, once again attempting to embrace her. This time, Riley sank into his arms, gratefully and he could feel her surrendering. She shivered in his arms. “I can’t believe you stood out here for two hours. You’re gonna get hypothermia.”

 

Riley shook her head furiously. “I couldn’t, I–” she paused. “I got your text, so I went outside to wait. But then you didn’t come, so I called you, and you didn’t pick up. So I texted you a bunch. And then it started to snow, and then it got worse, so I called 911, and they came, and then you were here, and I just–” she was sobbing again, breaking down, so Farkle held her tighter and waited for her breathing to slow. 

 

“I couldn’t deal–” she hiccuped. “I couldn’t deal with the thought of you out there, lost and alone and scared,” she paused and loosened herself from his grip to look him in the eyes. “And I know you’re not a child, and you can take care of yourself, but I didn’t know what I could do for you, so I just waited.”

 

“I guess I would’ve done the same for you,” Farkle admitted.

 

“You did,” Riley insisted. “You waited for me all the time. You were waiting since first grade, since the day you saved my life. You waited through Charlie and Lucas, and you waited after Lucas. You waited through my stupid breakups for me to recover, for me to see you differently. You waited, and Farkle Minkus, I have no clue how, but I’m glad you did. So that was my turn. And two hours is nothing compared to twelve years, so whenever you need me to, I will wait for you.”

 

Farkle smiled at this. He himself was not quite sure how he did it. Even as a child, he could remember never wanting to be separate from Riley Matthews. And if being her best friend and “waiting” was the way to go, then that was just what he would do. The way he endured it, he supposed, was by envisioning a life for themselves in the future. This life. This amazing life he was living. This life full of moments like this, the incredibly angsty and raw moments that eventually ended up like this. “Well, I don’t think I’ve ever risked hypothermia for you, so I think that’s kinda a big deal. Speaking of which, we should probably bring this inside–”

 

Riley seemed to have made a regular habit out of cutting him off. But this time, it was not with words, but with a kiss, the kind of kiss straight out of a romantic novel. The kind of kiss to release all of their pent up emotions. She pressed her body against his and he could feel her worries and his own melt away. It was better than a kiss in the rain, this one, with the snow falling on them, a gentler kiss. The kind of kiss where he could feel everything else around him fade away.

 

When they finally pulled away, that spark, that  _ hope _ , had returned to Riley’s eyes, even brighter now than ever before. And though her snow-covered hair and makeup and dress were pretty, those eyes were by far the most beautiful thing about her.

 

“I love you, Farkle,” Riley said suddenly.

 

These words transported Farkle back to a different time. December of Eighth Grade. A time when Cory was still teaching classes based on their lives, before high school, before anything complicated. Those moments of peace before the triangle. He knew it was wrong to blurt out what he did on New Year’s, he knew it was wrong to start that god awful triangle, but Riley was hurting. He remembered their heart-to-hearts outside of Topanga’s, or on her roof. He remembered the pang of hurt when she had said those words, knowing that she didn’t mean them in the way he did.

 

But this was different. This night wouldn’t end in a hug and a send-off on another date, no. They weren’t fourteen anymore.

 

“And I love you.” Riley might’ve been saying it in a different way than she meant then, but Farkle’s feelings had not changed. He drew her back towards him and kissed her, softer and slower than the time before.

 

This. This was what somehow made it all worth it.


End file.
